Entry level California home costs up 88% since 2020.

[Mtsoxfan]

All I know about California is from 2 brief visits and what I see on the telly

Beautiful Climate
All types of topography
Beautiful scenery
Vacation destinations
Tons of various recreation
Diverse population

Very high home prices, even on ****holes (as seen on flip home shows)
Very large fires
Large mudslides
Politics (I'll leave it at that)
EXPENSIVE everything, gas, taxes, power, etc
Lack of water, always a fight going on with water
Overpopulation in metro areas (ok, not just Cali)
Crime
Feel free to pile on the pros and cons

We love the lifestyle/area we live in, but not for 12 months a year. looking to snowbird to a more populous area, shopping/dining/people/healthcare that I miss where we are now.

 

[D&D]

We love the lifestyle/area we live in, but not for 12 months a year. looking to snowbird to a more populous area, shopping/dining/people/healthcare that I miss where we are now.

Part of that depends on your purse, part depends on what you really want I guess. Tennessee, Florida, Georgia, SC all have some attractiveness to them for the list you presented. My buddy has been going to Panama (Chiquiri) and says they are living a great life there rent, food, drinks (he's a big happy hour kind) on $2.5K/month. Nice beaches, great food, people and decent medical care (ex-pat community)

 

[Jstpssng]

Any for money sports team should not be getting any tax dollars

Why does something so obvious to us seem like a great idea to a politician?

 

[Mtsoxfan]

We have those on radar, except Florida. Only because of the high humidity. I figured it would be OK during winter season, but if things change, we would sell our VT property and live southern full time. No way Fla in summer. Part of the seasonal move would be for tax purposes, although DT helped with the SS tax break. Not sure we could rent 6 months a year for what we want in a location. Still looking, sorta...
5 years ago, we wanted close proximity to beach. Now, 30ish minute drive is OK. Everything else is a must. I can only take so much peace, quite, tranquility etc. we have here. Only took 5ish years to figure out. But don't want fulltime in a semi busy area either.

 

[D&D]

Why does something so obvious to us seem like a great idea to a politician?

Cuz they're not spending their own money. DA's like us give them free gas, free cars, free offices, free security details, expense budgets etc. all for the privilege of telling us what to do. Who's the stupid ones?

 

[jyoutz]

Why does something so obvious to us seem like a great idea to a politician?

Because the local hotels, food, and beverage businesses have the ear of local politicians. Sports facilities bring in a lot business to those establishments and also a lot of tax revenue to the city.

 

[jyoutz]

The

We have those on radar, except Florida. Only because of the high humidity. I figured it would be OK during winter season, but if things change, we would sell our VT property and live southern full time. No way Fla in summer. Part of the seasonal move would be for tax purposes, although DT helped with the SS tax break. Not sure we could rent 6 months a year for what we want in a location. Still looking, sorta...
5 years ago, we wanted close proximity to beach. Now, 30ish minute drive is OK. Everything else is a must. I can only take so much peace, quite, tranquility etc. we have here. Only took 5ish years to figure out. But don't want fulltime in a semi busy area either.

SS tax break isn’t what it seems. If you have any other income such as a pension or PT work, you exceed the maximum needed to qualify for the tax break.

 

[Mtsoxfan]

Pensions and 401k will be the majority of our income. Haven't started collecting yet, but we will sit down and do the math, all things considered.
It helps when you look at your worth, and figure out how much you can spend in the time you expect to have left. My math uses 83-85 as a longevity number for investment money, as pensions and SS will easily carry us further. I figured we won't be spending/traveling etc much after 80ish.

 

[2manyrocks]

Politicians here were swayed by projections of tax revenues and income to come. Stadium attendance can fall off if team does poorly. Sometimes injuries to key players can do that.

Tourists can change destination plans on a whim, too, but the government issued bonds still have to be paid. If tourist generated taxes fall short, usual practice here is to make up the shortfall with property tax hikes.

 

[CloverKnollFarms]

The

SS tax break isn’t what it seems. If you have any other income such as a pension or PT work, you exceed the maximum needed to qualify for the tax break.

Isn't the limit for the full deduction like $150k per couple?

I mean, at some point the wealthy need to pay their fair share, or so I've heard.